Following the controversial arrival of Luis Figo in the Spanish capital a year before, Real president Florentino Perez continued his now infamous Galacticos project with the capture of the then FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane from Italian giants Juventus for a fee that stood as the world record until Kaka's deal.

4. Luis Figo £37million - from Barca to Real in 2000

Perez was elected Real president in the summer of 2000 on the back of his promise to do the unthinkable and bring the star player from arch-rivals Barcelona to the Bernabeu. Upon appointment he was true to his word, breaking the world transfer record by signing Luis Figo for £37million.

5. Hernan Crespo £35.7million - from Parma to Lazio in 2000

In the summer of 2000 Sven-Goran Eriksson's Lazio were Serie A champions and flush with cash following the sale of Christian Vieri to Inter Milan a year before for a then world-record fee. They spent £35.7million of their money on Parma's Hernan Crespo, who finished top scorer in the league in his first season in Rome but was unable to help the club defend their Scudetto and also left for Inter in 2002.

6. Robinho £32.5million - Real Madrid to Manchester City in 2008

Having been taken over by the super-rich Abu Dhabi investment group on the final day of the 2008 summer transfer window, the new owners of Manchester City made a signal of their intent by beating Chelsea to the signing of unsettled Brazilian star Robinho from Real Madrid in a Premier League record deal worth £32.5million.

7. Gianluigi Buffon £32million - Parma to Juventus in 2001

With Parma selling off all their best players Italian giants Juventus pipped Roma to the signing of Azzurri No.1 Gianluigi Buffon for £32million - a figure which remains a world record sum for a goalkeeper.

8. Christian Vieri £32million - Inter Milan to Lazio in 1999

9. Andrei Shevchenko £30.8million - AC Milan to Chelsea in 2006

During the summer of 2005, there were persistent reports that Roman Abramovich offered a record sum of €75.2 million and striker Hernán Crespo to Milan in exchange for Shevchenko. Milan refused the monetary offer but took Crespo on loan. Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon was quoted as saying, "I think Shevchenko is the type of player we would like. At the end of the day to improve what we have got, it has to be a great player and Shevchenko certainly comes into that class." Shevchenko cited that the persistence of Abramovich was a key factor in his move.

Berbatov moved to Manchester United on 1 September 2008, costing the club £30.75 million and signing a four-year contract.Tottenham had also accepted a bid from Manchester City, but Berbatov claimed after signing for United that he "would not even have thought about Manchester City".Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, accused Tottenham of having used the complaint to the Premier League to negotiate a higher price for Berbatov from Manchester United.